Scourge of the Grey king
The scourge of the gray king spans over fifty years, and resulted with the death of just under half of the population of the. It began with princeVecna Bectin's rise to power as prince of Bectin, and quickly he increase the strength of Bectin. He also began sending Bectonian settlers to the Ardent Lands, which increased the economic might of Becton but also began a feud with Deinksvund who saw the hinterland as theirs. The War of the Scepter as the two nations and their allies fight for control of both the Ardent Lands but also the whole Cradle Sea. Bectin's foothold in the Ardent Lands stood strong against Deinksvundian military might, and Prince Vecna Bectin was able to maintain high power base on the Eastern Continent. It is at this point in the Scourge of the Grey King that scholars debate amongst themselves as to exactly what happened. A popular theory says that Vecna Bectin came into contact with the dormant magical plague that had decimated Deinksvund during The War of the Scepter and that it was what corrupted him and started him on the long path to litchdom. Another theory states that Prince Vecna Bectin was desperate for more power so as to continue his war machine marching further into Deinksvund and thus his own greed had turned him to evil magics. A few Bectonian scholars insist that Prince Vecna Bectin was possessed by a great demon that drove him to madness and evil. No matter the reasoning, Prince Vecna Bectin had turned to illegal necromancy and other dark arts in order to expand his power across the cradle. Having amassed great power for himself, Prince Vecna Bectin declared himself a King, and succeeded Bectin and her colonies (which were mostly the Ardent Lands at the time) from the Empire. This resulted in all the neutral nations in the conflict (Crangnia, Lo Biele, E'Trina, Daelought, Hirvatyknia, Illios donnix, Matinska, and Shavizunark) as well as a few of Bectin's allies (Porta and Albatiia) joining in the fight against the newly self-declared king Vecna Bectin. The combined armies made their way to Bectin, and with only a few small skirmishes on both land and sea, the Bectonian government surrendered to the empire. The Bectonian government denounced Vecna Bectin, and elected a new leader who was loyal to the Cradle. This resulted in mass desertion in the Bectonian and Albatiian armies, with a large number of deserters joining King Vecna Bectin and his rebel army in the Ardent Lands. Even with the influx of soldiers to King Vecna Bectin's army, the empire was confident in their victory, thus it took over 3 months of debates in the Radiant Statehouse of Invarcian Dominion in Illios donnix Princepts before military plans were decided upon and the Ardent Lands were marched upon. At first, it seemed that victory was the Empire's to take as they quickly pushed further and further in the heart the Ardent Lands. However, on the eve of what seemed like a sure victory against King Vecna Bectin himself, a magical plague spread across the Ardent Lands, affecting tens of thousands of soldiers on both side of the conflict. In a matter of hours, soldiers were wreathing in pain on the ground, many were coughing up blood, and the whole battlefield looked like a death camp. All who had found themselves on the battlefield that day were transformed. The diseased soldiers found themselves on death's door, and most had taken that step through. However a small few fought against the plague with all they had, and never willing to admit defeat, were seduced by the immortality and power that comes with becoming a Death Knight. These unfortunate souls became the lieutenants of King Vecna Bectin, who now simply referred to himself as the Grey King. With the corpses of thousands of men, the Grey King and his death knights took to raising the decomposing soldiers from the dead to fight as their mindless soldiers. Armies of undead all lead by Death Knights could be found in all corners of the cradle, levelling cities, burning houses, and destroying villages. The once tame and conquered countryside of the Empire was in ruins, as the Grey King's armies simply destroyed and moved on. Few were the battles won by the empire, and soon well over one third of the population of the Cradle had lost their lives to this conflict. Desperate for anyway to stop the Grey King, the Council of Mages decided to create the only thing they knew powerful enough to end the war. For months, the greatest magical minds of the cradle spent every waking hour in the great wizard's tower of Therune in Crangnia attempting to create and control a weapon to stop the Grey King. Eventually, these arcanists were able to create a weapon known as "The Living Spell". A group of over 20 Archmages were required to summon this abomination of arcane magic, and thus the largest army ever amassed in the Cradle Empire's history marched into the Ardent Lands in order to protect these Archmages. For well over 5 days the Archmages performed their ritual in the heart of the Ardent Lands, desperately maintaining their concentration as grand battles took place all around them. Finally the Living Spell was released, and it made short work of the undead armies, throwing the undying army into chaos before finally routing before the remains of the Imperial Army. With victory within their grasp, a small group of heroes infiltrated the Black Citadel that housed the Grey King. The heroes fought their way to the Grey King's chambers, but were unable to defeat him. One account from the heroes states that he simply vanished; using a type of magic they were unable to detect. Another, more chilling account, states that it was at that moment that the Grey King ascended in divinity and became a god. Whatever the case maybe, the Grey King has not been seen from since. The Living Spell allowed the Imperial Army to defeat the Grey King and his army, but it proved to be too much for the 20 Archmages to control. After routing the undead armies, the living spell turned on the Imperials, killing many of the surviving soldiers and over half of the Archmages who were supposed to control it. It took another two months before the Collage of Mages was able to stop the living spell and by that time it had been spotted at least once in every principality and had amassed a victim count of over 500 souls. With their King gone, the Death Knights went to ground with their undead servants. Many were destroyed by the Living Spell while it spread havoc across the Cradle. Many more were hunted down by adventures and heroes despite for revenge or fame. A few still exist, continuing to serve their absent leader to this day. Time Line The World of Tellic